Yesterday was Resurrection Sunday and we celebrated the joy of the life we have been given in Jesus' name. We sang songs, witnessed baptisms, and heard words and stories all of which testify to the fact that the sins and death we lament have been defeated and we have been raised to new life in Christ!
Today, spend some time reading Psalm 150. Notice how unlike the previous psalms, there is no hint of sadness or pain, but purely praise! This is how the book of Psalms ends. And because of Jesus, this is how our story will end–with no mourning, crying, or pain. How does it make you feel knowing that this joy and freedom are yours because of Jesus' resurrection? Can you allow that joy to fill you and lead you into praising God in this unrestrained way today?
Psalm 150
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heaven!
2Praise him for his mighty works;
praise his unequaled greatness!
3Praise him with a blast of the ram's horn;
praise him with the lyre and harp!
4Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;
praise him with strings and flutes!
5Praise him with a clash of cymbals;
praise him with loud clanging cymbals.
6Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Wrapping Up
We hope that the time we've taken to bring our sin and brokenness before God as a church family has helped you gain a clearer picture of Jesus and how much we need the hope of his resurrection life to be made whole. And even with Lent now in the past, we hope you will continue to hunger for Jesus to make this resurrection life more real and transformative for you, day by day.
So as this season comes to a close, take some time today to reflect on your Lent experience and how you can carry it forward with you into the rest of your life.
- Was celebrating Easter any different for you after engaging in The Lent Experience? If so, what was different?
- Look back at your Ash Wednesday journal entry (if you wrote one). How did God answer your prayer?
- Were there any "a-ha!" moment for you during Lent this year? What were they?
- Which of the practices we engaged in during Lent did you find most life-giving–fasting, solitude, repentance, almsgiving, forgiveness, bible-reading? How might you make that practice part of your regular rhythm of life? (If you'd like a refresher on how to engage meaningfully in these practices, you can find some helpful steps for all of them in The Lent Experience Participant's Journal which we've been working through over the last six weeks.)
A Blessing of Hope
From the beginning of this season, our prayer for our church family is that we would be captivated by the hope of the new life we have in Christ. Let this blessing from Paul's letter to the Romans be a final encouragement to you as we step into the season ahead.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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